There are numerous ways of securing an electrical connector to a circuit board or some other panel. For example, the connector may be provided with mounting flanges having bores that align with corresponding apertures on the circuit board. Fasteners can be extended through the bore and the board aperture to secure the connector thereto.
In other arrangements, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,407, a holding device is inserted through an opening in a component and has resilient legs for engaging the circuit board and securing the circuit board to the component. The mounting device includes one portion having a latch extending angularly from the plane of the mounting device. Further, the mounting device has barbs for securing the mounting device with the component. The mounting device also has legs with a first portion which is tapered outwardly and a second portion which is tapered inwardly to provide spring action transverse to the plane of the mounting device and to engage the circuit board.
Electrical connectors can be mounted to a circuit board in different orientations. One orientation is where the mating face of the electrical connector is parallel to the surface of the circuit board. An alternative orientation is where the mating face of the electrical connector is perpendicular to the circuit board, this is referred to as a right angle connector. Typically, the electrical connectors must be individually designed for either parallel mounting or right angle mounting and the hold downs that are used for these connectors must be individually designed.
What is needed is a hold down which can secure an electrical connector in either orientation to the circuit board or to a panel.